| “ | „ | |
| ― John being mad at Chris during a meeting with Tony Soprano. |
John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni is a major character on The Sopranos. He is introduced as the ostensibly pragmatic, calculating underboss of the New York Lupertazzi crime family as well as an ally of the Soprano crime family. However, following the death of Carmine Lupertazzi Sr., he moves to seize power as the family's new don thereby triggering a civil war in New York. He serves as one of the main antagonists of Season 5.
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History[]
Background[]
| “ | „ | |
| ― Tony Soprano on Johnny Sack |
Johnny with his close friend Tony Soprano.
Johnny Sack was born to an Italian-American family in New York City in the early 1950s, later residing in Manhattan.[1] He was a childhood friend of several future New Jersey mobsters, including Anthony "Tony" Soprano Sr., Silvio Dante and Ralph "Ralphie" Cifaretto, and would later serve as a mediator in several of their disputes; on some level, he also seemed to know Tony's father Giovanni "Johnny Boy" Soprano and uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano Jr., and commented on their biggest problem being how they "always need someone to demonize".[2] He was a member of the Lupertazzi crime family since at least early 1980s,[3] and at first served as Carmine Lupertazzi's driver. However, by 1992 Johnny had risen to become Carmine's right-hand man and underboss.[4] He married Ginny Infante, a professional ballet dancer whom he met while she was working at Wanamaker's and had two daughters with her, Allegra and Catherine; after her pregnancy, Ginny was frought with constant weight problems, which made her the subject of several closed-door remarks and jokes by the DiMeo family.[5] Both would often promised to quit their respective additions (food and nicotine) together, but Ginny would invariably regain any lost weight while John never managed to quit cigarettes. A longtime chain-smoker, Johnny picked up tobacco around 1969, and despite several promises to Ginny about quitting, continued consuming until his final days.[6][7][8]
As seen in "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request...", John has a large extended family, mainly uncles and aunts and their families. John's mother died at an unknown date, though John's children still seem to remember her, while his father is still living, but appears to be on an age-related cognitive decline.
Season 1[]
| “ | You think I got the balls to drive in from New York and tell your uncle how he should run his family? I shouldn't expect to see the Statue of Liberty again if I did that, huh?
|
„ |
| ― Johnny Sack overglorifying Junior |
Johnny Sack sits down with Junior and Tony representing Hesh's interests.
Shortly after Junior has been named boss of the DiMeo family, he begins imposing his authority over as many businesses as he can, first targeting Herman "Hesh" Rabkin's shylocking operation and taxing him $500,000. Hoping to resolve the issue in a discreet manner through which he can reduce Junior's fine without actually appearing to be involved, Tony requests Johnny Sack's help, meeting with him at a restaurant in Manhattan where he is celeberating his and Carmela Soprano's anniversary; he explains that it should look as though Hesh approached Johnny in person to represent him at their sitdown, and that the final concession shouldn't be insulting to his uncle. Gleefully exclaiming that he is "still running things", Johnny agrees and lets Tony rejoin Carmela for dinner, later sending over some celebratory cake for their table. When a meeting with Junior is later held in front of Satriale's, Johnny first plays into his ego by seriously stating that he would never tell him how to run his own family, but since Hesh also has contacts in New York, somebody needs to step in for him. Tony pretends to be offended by Hesh "having [his] dirty laundry in public" and says he should have come to him first (which he actually did), but he rebukes this, exclaiming that it would have been insulting to Junior if he went to Tony right after he announced his demands to Hesh. Johnny asks for a solution, and suggests that he lower the back tax; Junior first reduces it to $300,000, but Hesh strong-arms him and demands $250,000, which Junior grants. At a celebratory party for Junior's new position, Johnny Sack salutes him and cheers in his honor.[9]
When federal indictments against the North Jersey family are underway, Tony comes up with the idea to move all of his incriminating goods into his mother's residence at the Green Grove Retirement Home, where he is convinced the authorities won't search for them.[10] In time, he convinces some of the other capos, including Lawrence "Larry Boy" Barese, James "Little Jimmy" Altieri and Raymond "Buffalo Ray" Curto to do the same and move their own mothers there, while using the home to hold their business meetings as well, unbeknownst to Junior. When visiting Livia one day, she, hoping to pin Junior against Tony, lets slip to him that his subordinates have been meeting there, saying that Johnny Sack also came in from Manhattan and settled his mother in, which Junior interprets as a covert move against him on Tony's part.[11] After the indictments are handed down and Junior is arrested along with 15 others, the prosecuting U.S. Attorney offers him a deal in which all the charges against him will be dropped if he confesses that Tony was actually the real boss of the family and that he had direct contact with the Mangano and Teresi families in New York through Johnny Sack, hoping to charge him as well. Remaining true to his principles, Junior refuses.[12]
Season 2[]
Paulie: "Say hello to Furio, a friend of ours from the other side."
Johnny: "Oh hey! I heard a lot about you."
Furio: "Nice to meet you."
Johnny: "Yeah, me too. My pleasure."
— Johnny being introduced to Furio by Paulie[src]
Johnny having dinner with Silvio, Tony, Paulie and Big Pussy.
Johnny is having dinner with Tony, now the acting boss, Peter "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri, Silvio and Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero at a New Jersey restaurant where they are discussing Richard "Richie" Aprile's recent comeback from prison and how he is already shaking down and assaulting Peter "Beansie" for a piece of his pizza business. In the middle of the dinner, Dr. Jennifer Melfi and her friends, who were incidentally there as well, show up as they are about to leave and Paulie flirts with them, which catches Melfi's attention as she notices Tony and, clearly enebriated, begins playfully talking with him. While Tony is evidently displeased with the conversation, Johnny recommends she and her companions sit down with them, but Tony insists that they are leaving.[13] He later meets with Paulie and Pussy at Vesuvio and congratulates Paulie on his new position as underboss, also being introduced to Furio by Paulie, with Johnny being pleasantly surprised to make his acquaintance. While sitting down at the table with them, Paulie tells Pussy to leave them alone for a moment as they have pressing business to discuss; he, feeling as though he is being left out of important matters and having been denied a promotion by Tony, initially disobeys Paulie but ultimately obliges saying he needed to make a phone call anyway, which makes Johnny smirk.[14] He is also one of the players at the Executive Game, and falls asleep on the couch after a day of dealing, being warmly greeted by Richie after he arrives in the middle of the game.[15] When Junior and Richie are cashing in on a lucrative bootleg high-quality movie tape racket, they neglect to put it on record with Johnny, as Junior bitterly expresses, "Fuck New York".[16]
He ultimately became boss after Carmine's death. Johnny was also a friend and contemporary of Tony Soprano. Johnny worked to maintain the peace with the other families, reasoning that peace between all the families led to mutually-increased prosperity. However, he had a much darker side that sometimes revealed itself. Sacrimoni is a Machiavellian strategist who sowed dissent and suspicion among the ranks of the DiMeo crime family. His scheming and political manipulation escalated shortly after becoming boss; Sacrimoni shed much of his earlier rationality and aversion to violence as he ruthlessly eliminated rivals and potential threats to his power.
Season 4[]
Johnny Sack was very sensitive about comments made towards his wife, Ginny. Johnny became violently angry when any remarks were made about her weight. He once ordered a hit on Ralph "Ralphie" Cifaretto for making one such off-color joke, although then boss Carmine Sr. did not approve of the requested hit. This saved Ralph's life, and also, although unknown to Johnny, his own, since Tony had obtained approval from Carmine to hit Johnny to protect the highly valuable Esplanade project to which Ralph's involvement was key.
Johnny cultivated a friendship with Paulie Gualtieri, making use of him as a source of information about Soprano family business. The relationship began when Paulie felt sidelined by Tony over the Esplanade construction project and proved most fruitful when Paulie was imprisoned in the summer of 2002, a time when he felt particularly neglected by his friends. Johnny lied to Paulie, telling him that Carmine held him in high regard and often asked about him. This encouraged Paulie to place more faith in his friendship with Johnny than in the loyalty of his friends in the DiMeo crime family. Through Paulie, Johnny learned about Tony's Frelinghuysen Avenue property windfall and HUD scam, allowing the Lupertazzi crime family to demand a piece of the action because their mutual interests made both projects possible. Paulie told Johnny about the insult that Ralph made about his wife. However, after a chance meeting with Carmine, Paulie discovered that Carmine didn't even know who he was. Angered by John's deceit, Paulie became one of his biggest detractors.
Johnny Sack sometimes chafed under Carmine's leadership of the family, particularly over Carmine's apparent plans to name his son Carmine Jr. (aka Little Carmine) as his successor. During the abortive war with the Soprano crew over Tony's Frelinghuysen Avenue operation, Johnny authorized Tony to arrange to assassinate Carmine. Much to Johnny's chagrin, Tony accepted Carmine's offer of settlement and canceled the hit.
Season 5[]
After Carmine died of a stroke in March 2004, Johnny's crew engaged in a bitter war over the family leadership with Carmine's son, Little Carmine. More violence was threatened upon Tony's New Jersey family following the unauthorized murder of two of Johnny's men by Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, on Little Carmine's behalf. After both New York factions suffered heavy casualties, the conflict ended when Little Carmine surrendered control of the family. This was followed by a tentative reconciliation with Tony, who had personally taken the life of Blundetto. On December 20, 2004 Johnny was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in his Mansion in New Jersey after the family's consigliere, James "Jimmy" Petrille, turned state's evidence. Johnny remained in control of the Lupertazzi family while in jail awaiting trial.
Season 6[]
By 2005, Johnny entrusted Philip "Phil" Leotardo with the role of acting boss while he was in jail. Johnny's brother-in-law Anthony Infante acted as a back channel for communications to reach him while he was imprisoned. His wife remained supportive, often visiting him in prison. Johnny was portrayed as becoming more selfish while imprisoned, commonly disregarding the problems of others, stating that his "situation" should take precedence. He ordered Phil to maintain a good relationship with Tony and avoid starting a war over any business disputes, particularly the new office park construction project, another shared venture.
After Richard "Dick" Barone died while Tony was recovering from a gunshot, Lupertazzi front organization Cinelli Sanitation tried to buy Barone Sanitation, a Soprano front, from its naive new owner Jason Barone. John mediated negotiations about Tony's compensation for this from prison, through Phil. Phil told Tony that Johnny was in a panic state over his finances while in prison. Phil agreed to a solution with Tony, perhaps better than he had been expecting because of Tony's new outlook. Johnny later asked Phil to reach out to Tony to organize a hit on Rusty Millio, but Tony refused, saying he needed to set some boundaries.
In August of 2006, Johnny was granted a release from prison to attend his daughter Allegra's wedding. However, he had to cover the cost of U.S. Marshals and metal detectors for the wedding and would have six hours maximum. Johnny seemed to enjoy the wedding despite covering its huge cost personally. When the time came for Johnny to leave the wedding he was reluctant to go, wanting to wait until his daughter and her new groom left. However, the marshals blocked her limousine and dragged Johnny away in handcuffs, causing him to break down in tears. Later, his crew discussed this show as a display of weakness. Tony was the only one to stand up for Johnny, saying that when it comes to daughters, "all bets are off."
While at the wedding, Johnny took the chance to talk business, personally asking Tony to perform the hit on Rusty Millio because he was worried Rusty would again act as a kingmaker, and try to replace him while he was away. John hinted he was worried Rusty might nominate Phil. Tony agreed to take the job and contracted it out to a two-man crew flown in from Naples, Italy, Italo and Salvatore, who executed Millio and quickly returned to Italy.
Johnny's efforts to maintain control of his family ultimately proved futile. His lawyer, Ron Perse, floated the possibility of cooperating with the FBI, but Johnny dismissed this. However, as the trial neared, Ron arranged a deal with the government. John and his lawyer make a plea agreement for his vintage Wurlitzer jukebox, cash and investment portfolios with The Vanguard Group and Fidelity Investments, his 401(k) and severance package from Essany Scaffolding, condominium in Deal, New Jersey, his Maserati Coupe, Ginny's GMC Yukon and his house and contents valued at $1.2 million and fifteen-years in exchange for John's allocution. This is later reduced to their North Caldwell, New Jersey home, $45,000 in equity from his daughters' variable universal life insurance policies, and Ginny's individual retirement account worth close to $110,000 to which Ron encourages John to take. Facing a massive asset seizure that would have left both him and his wife destitute and a case he could not possibly beat, Johnny pleaded guilty to 47 RICO predicates in exchange for a reduced sentence of 15 years and a fine of $4.1 million — effectively ending his position as boss (but still leaving Ginny enough money to live comfortably). As part of the deal, he was also required to allocute and admit he was involved in organized crime. Though he did not reveal the names of any associates, the allocution angered members of both the Soprano and Lupertazzi families who believed John should have stood trial before admitting anything regarding La Cosa Nostra. Johnny, now serving 15 years in federal prison, was now considered persona non grata among his former associates.
During his incarceration in 2007, Johnny developed a highly malignant form of lung cancer due to being a smoker. Johnny used what little financial means he had available to consult oncology expert Uri Rosen in Cleveland, Ohio, who gave him a grim prognosis of three months. He was held at the Federal Correctional Institution, in Danbury, Connecticut and later transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, in Springfield, Missouri as his condition worsened. Johnny, previously held in individual custody, befriended three other inmates, orderly Warren Feldman and two African-American patients, and made a final bid to quit tobacco, but relapsed only weeks later. In mid September 2007 when news spread to the Bada Bing and Tony's crew knew that Johnny had passed, they saluted him. A picture of Johnny was placed next to portraits of Carmine Lupertazzi Sr. and Billy Leotardo on the wall in John's social club, now owned by Phil, to commemorate him.
Personality[]
| “ | God forbid any of them would find themselves in that position. It's a thankless job.
|
„ |
| ― Johnny Sacrimoni about being a boss. |
Unusual for a Mafioso, it was implied that Johnny Sack was always faithful to his wife, whom he loved deeply. If so, this would make him one of the only two married wiseguys in The Sopranos to stay monogamous, along with Robert "Bobby Bacala" Baccalieri Jr..
Johnny drove a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S500 and later bought a 2004 Maserati Coupé and dressed stylishly. His usual calm demeanor and respectful way of carrying himself made him suitable for the role of underboss. He was also almost always seen smoking a Marlboro cigarette.
Johnny's enigmatic expressions while deliberating were contrasted by his decisive expression when giving out orders. He would rarely visibly display his rage or irritation, except when his wife's reputation was involved. Johnny was extremely protective of his wife's honor, and nearly had Ralph Cifaretto killed for a joke he made in public on Ginny's weight. In most other cases, Johnny chose not to show his feelings but rather acted behind the scenes to take his revenge or undermine people. This would mean he was invisibly pulling strings in certain situations to sabotage people or deals. Also, his loyalty, even in an organized crime context, can be seen as flexible. Depending on the opportunity, he was prepared to either help or at least not try to prevent hits on Junior Soprano, Tony and Carmine. When disputes between the Soprano and Lupertazzi families occurred, John was publicly almost always the voice of moderation. When Tony and Carmine both declined to back off in their dispute on the Esplanade deal, Johnny tried to convince Carmine to still change his mind and not resort to violence.
Johnny's personality sees a noticeably darker shift when Carmine dies. Locked in a brutal power struggle with Carmine Jr., he is no longer a cool and calm pragmatist. He orders hits and mock executions on Carmine Jr's faction without hesitation, frequently flies off into shouting rage at remarks, like at Christopher for merely suggesting making a compromise with little Carmine. With Tony Blundetto killing Phil Leotardo's brother Billy, Johnny threatens "raining a shitstorm" on the entire Soprano family (including a threat at Christopher as an eye for an eye) unless Tony Soprano delivers his cousin Blundetto to them. However, as he is incarcerated and facing complete financial crisis, John shows that nothing is more important than his personal family, crying when he is humiliatingly escorted back to jail out of his daughter's wedding end, and giving an Allocution that admits the existence of Cosa Nostra, acts which cause him to lose huge levels of respect and dignity among his mob associates (particularly Phil), although it is shown that he regains some in time.
Murders Johnny Sacrimoni is associated with[]
- Lorraine Calluzzo: Murder ordered for paying Little Carmine Lupertazzi instead of him. During the hit, her lover, Jason Evanina was also killed off-screen, little before Lorraine met her own demise. (April 2004)
- Rusty Millio: After asking Tony Soprano to do it and while he originally rejected to, he finally gave in and ordered Italo and Salvatore to shoot him dead; killed for fear that he would find another puppet like Little Carmine to control and for being a general nuissance (August 2006).
- Edward "Eddie" Pietro: While not directly ordering his death, Johnny was also indirectly responsible for the murder of Rusty's bodyguard/driver Eddie, since he was with Rusty at the time of his death (August 2006).
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||||
| Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Season 5 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Season 6 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In "Moe n' Joe", Ron Pearse tells Johnny, "You're a young man; in 15 years, you'll be 67." The episode takes place in November 2006, so Johnny had to have been born in 1953 if he was going to turn 53 by the end of 2006, or in 1954 if he wasn't.
- ↑ "He Is Risen"
- ↑ During Johnny's allocution in 2006, the court levels his membership to the Lupertazzi family "beginning approximately January 1, 1996", but this appears to be a minimum period Johnny must admit to, as RICO indictment depends on at least two predicates committed within a 10-year span
- ↑ "Moe n' Joe"
- ↑ "University"
- ↑ In "Stage 5", Johnny tells Marshal Lunt, "I quit smoking after 38 years…" The episode takes place in September 2007, so Johnny had to have started smoking around 1969.
- ↑ "Army of One"
- ↑ "The Weight"
- ↑ "Pax Soprana"
- ↑ "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti"
- ↑ "Boca"
- ↑ "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano"
- ↑ "Toodle-Fucking-Oo"
- ↑ "Big Girls Don't Cry"
- ↑ "The Happy Wanderer"
- ↑ "Full Leather Jacket"